Cardiac Cath

Just to see Tommy in a gown is a real treat. Just ask most of the nurses and Doctors. The word full moon comes to mind. He is now down in the Cardiac Cath lab with tubes running into his groin area up to his heart. (please insert all your own groin jokes here). The catheters will run into the vessels (arteries and veins) up to his heart.They will inject contrast dye to distinguish certain certain features. Once the tubes are in place, they will take pictures from different views to get a good idea of the structures and functions of the valves. Tom's major problem is his mitral valve, which is the door between the top of the left side of his heart and the bottom. His has malfunctioned and swings both ways (again please insert all sexually inspired jokes here)..
Once this test is completed, his next assignment is the TEE, transesophageal echocardiogram. Now he gets to swallow a tube (you know the drill here) with a camera that can peek at the back of the heart to see how the valve is functioning.
After those, he will be admitted and we meet with Dr. Sheffield to determine the best avenue for fixing his valve.
When we were registering this am, he did ask for a suite, mini-bar key, and a candy stripper. Who knew?
Susan